I CAN’T have been the only person gritting my teeth reading headlines about a school banning the childhood game of tag.

The head of a Leeds’ primary school has stopped the traditional playground game because children’s clothes were apparently being torn and some children were said to be upset by the frantic nature of the game.

Generations of children have run around chasing each other, touching them and gleefully shouting “You’re it!”

Now, there is a danger of a widespread version of a stupidly sanitised tag where children waft near each other in a bizarre non-contact activity not even meriting the word “game.”

Children need to run about, possibly even get the odd torn sleeve. They definitely need personal contact and the playground rough and tumble that they love.

Removing this kind of unfettered freedom simply prevents proper development, denying them another much-needed “risk” that prepares them for real life.